Door latch



July 26, 193s. c. H. SAXTON 2,124,751

DOOR LATCH Filed Feb. 18, 193'? 5 Sheets--Shee'fl l wim/MAM.

C. H. SAXTON July 26, 1938.

DOOR LATCH Filed Feb. 18, 1957 Z5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Summa/x39 ZClaudJJaZa/a Jwg. Z

C. H. SAXTON Y DOOR LATCH July 26, 1938.

Filed Feb. 1a. 1937 3 sheets-sheet z Patented `uly 26, 1938 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to a latch for doors and while it is designedprimarily for use in connection with the doors of automobiles, it is tobe understood that it can also be employed in con- 5 nection with othertypes of doors, if found convenient.

-An object of the invention Iis to provide the latch with a bolt whichdoes not slide as crdinarily but is mounted to slide and swing relativeto the latch housing and the keeper so that when the bolt is notfastened against swinging movement, the door can readily be moved intoor out of closed position without requiring the use of handles such ascommonly employed.

A further object is to provide simple and eilicient means for fasteningthe bolt against movement relative to its housing.

With the foregoing and other objects in view 9 which appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully describedand pointed out in the` claims, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred` forms of the invention havebeen shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of portions of two doorsof an automobile, the same being equipped with latches which constitutethe present invention, a portion of one of the doors being shown insection.

Figure 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section through the housingof the latch in one door.

, Figure 3 is a section on line 3 3, Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4 4, Figure 2. Figure 5 is a section online 5 5, Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the relativepositions of the parts when the latch is released and retracted by theopening or closing of the door.

Figure 'l is a section on line 1 1, Figure 6.

Figure 8 is an enlarged section on line 8 8, Figure 1.

Figure 9 is a horizontal section through a portion of the latch showingthe position of the bolt while the door is being closed, the head of thebolt being pressed backwardly by contact with its keeper. y

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing a slightly modied formof latch. Figure 1l is a section on line Il I I, Figure 10.

1 Figure l2 is a section on line I2 |2, Figure Figure 13 is an enlargedtransverse section through a portion of the door equipped with themodified form of lock, the operating levers of the latch and the shaftsfrom which they are extended being shown.

Figure 14 is a perspective view of the head of the latch bolt.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference A designates a doorof an automobile or the like, the same being of the usual constructionwith the exception that no handles are mounted on either the inner sideor outer side thereof. Formed in the bottom wall of the window openingat opposite sides of the glass B are sockets C each of which issuiiciently large to receive one or more iingers of the user when it isdesired to release the latch and open or close the door. Each of thesesockets is located above the housing I of the latch which is concealedwithinthe door at the usual location.

In the structure illustrated the latch housing comprises a metal platebent to provide side walls 2 and an end wall or face plate 3, the latterbeing formed with an opening 4 in which the head of the latch bolt isadapted to work. This end wall or face plate 3 is adapted to.lie flushor substantially flush with that edge of the door remote from thehingesv and be supported close to the keeper '5 of the latch'when thedoor is closed.

As the housing of the latch is bent substantially into U-shape it canextend partly around the path of the window glass B as shown for examplein Figures 7 and 8 so as not to interfere with the raising and loweringof the glass.

Guide ears 6 are struck inwardly from one of the side walls 2 of thelatch housing or casing and slidable between them is a latch bolt 1formed of an elongated strip of metal bent to produce a yoke havingparallel arms. This bolt is straddled by a cross strip 8 slidablymounted on a pin 9 projecting from the adjacent side 2 of the casing andinterposed between the cross strip 8 and the head 9 of the pin is acoiled spring I0 which constantly thrusts against the cross strip,thereby to press the bolt 1 yieldingly against the adjacent side wall 2and maintain it between the guide ears 6.

The head of the bolt is of peculiar design and has been illustrated indetail in Figure 14. This head Il has a flat side I2 which merges into arounded'end surface I3 terminating at the outer end of the opposite fiatside I4 of the head.' This flat side I 4 extends backwardly to alaterally extending enlargement I5. Recesses I3 are provided in the topand bottom of the latch head at the inner end thereof and are adapted toreceive the free end of the arms of bolt 1, these arms being `joined tothe head by a pivot I1. 'I'he parts are so proportioned and assembledthat when in normal positions,.the flat side I2 of the head and thecorresponding side of the bolt 1 will rest snugly against the adjacentwall 2 of the latch casing as shown, for example, in Figure v4, theseparts being held yieldingly in these p0- sltions by the pressure ofspring III against the cross strip 3 which, in turn, thrusts against thebolt 1. 4

A spiral spring I3 is s'ecured to one of the side walls 2 of the casingand has a free end whichv exerts a constant thrust against the inner endof the bolt 1 so that said bolt is held normally in forwardly extendedposition with the head II projecting through opening 4 and theenlargement I 3 thrusting against the face plate 3 of the casing so asto constitute means for limiting -the movement of the bolt in onedirection. These positions of the parts are clearly shown in Figure 5wherein the head of the bolt is shown in engagement with its keeper, aswhen the door is closed. I

For the purpose of preventing swinging movement of the bolt 1 and thehead I I, there is provided a detent I9 in the form of a short leverpivotally mounted at on the inner side of the face plate 3 and normallysupported by a stud 2I so that its end will bear against the adjacentside of the stop or enlargement I5. A lifting rod 22 connects detent I9to an equalizing lever 23 pivotally mounted on the face plate 3 andprovided at its ends with slots 24. Extending into the respective slotsare the rounded ends of operating levers 25 and 26 which are pivotallysupported on the respective side walls 2 and guided Within straps 21 orthe like. 'I'hose ends of the levers remote from slots 2l are engaged bypush rods 23 mounted in guides 29 and extending into the respectivesockets C where they are equipped with heads or push bars adapted toreceive thrust from one or more fingers of the user. If desired theseheads can be made of such size as to constitute closures for the socketsso as to keep out foreign substances.

A coiled spring 3| can be connected to the lever 23 for exerting aconstant downward pull thereon with the result that the detent I9 ismaintained normally in the position shown in Figure 3, therebypreventing lateral swinging motion of bolt 1 and head II. It does not,however, interfere with the back and forth sliding motion of the bolt.

Actuation of the equalizing lever 23 by the depression of either of therods 23 can be prevented by a pivoted stop 32 located above the leverand adapted to hang downwardly into position thereagainst. By means of arod 33 extending inwardly from the door and attached at one end to thisstop, the stop can be swung into or out of restraining position. InFigure 3 the stophas been shown by full lines in released position andby dotted lines in restraining position.

It will be noted that a door equipped with this latch is not to beprovided with handles. To close the door from the outside it is merelynecessary to thrust against it. This will cause the rounded surface I3and head II to come against keeper 5 and the keeper will flick the headbackwardly, thrusting through boit I against spring I8. After the bolthead Il has moved with the door to closed position, the spring I3 willpromptly project the head II into the keeper as shown in Figure 5 thusfastening the door. The door cannot now be opened by pulling on itbecause the detent I3 prevents the head from swinging out of engagementwith its keeper. It might be stated that when it is desired to close thedoor from the inside, one or more fingers of the user can be placedwithin the socket C at the inner side of the door and the door thuspulled shut.- l

To open the door from the outside the user depresses the head or pushbar 30 so as to push through rod 23 against lever 23 and cause one endof' the lever to lift against the action of spring 3| and thus raise theequalizing lever 23 to the position indicated by dotted lines in Figure3. This results in lifting detent I3 away from the side of enlargementI3 and if the user will then pull on the door, using the socket as ahandle portion, the flat side I4 of head II will be deflected by thefixed keeper 5 so that the joint between head II and bolt 1 will break,as shown in Figure 7, thereby allowing the head II to slip past thekeeper. During this breaking action the bolt 1 will of course swing outof normal position against the action of springs I0 and I3 but as soonas the head II has passed its keeper 5, the springs will return the boltand its head to position flat against the adjacent side 2 of casing I,the parts thus being restored to their normal positions.

To open the door from the inside the same action takes place with theexception that the user depresses the head or button 30 at the inner'side of the door so that motion will be transmitted through the rod 23thereof to the lever 26 which will be actuated to raise the equalizinglever 23 and the detent I 9. The user then thrusts against the door andcauses it to open at which time the bolt and its head will act as beforedescribed.

Should the occupant of the car leave the stop 32 in holding position, asindicated by broken lines in Figure 3, it would then be impossible forthe door to be opened from the outside because equalizing lever 23 couldnot be raised by depressing the head or push bar 3II.

While it is preferred to use a depressible head or push bar foractuating the lock it is to be understood that a lever could be used forthis purpose if so desired. 'Ihis modified construction has been shownin Figures 10 to i3 inclusive. It includes a lifting rod 34 extendingupwardly from detent I9 and pivotally attached to a cross head 35 theendl of which normally rests on supporting lugs 36. A spring 31 isattached to the lifting rod and to the wall of the casing so as to holdsaid rod normally pulled downwardly so that the cross head 3l isnormally resting on lugs 36 and detent I3 is normally positioned at theside of head extension I5.

Parallel shafts 33 take the place of the operatingylevers 25 and 23,these operating elements or shafts 33 being provided with liftingfingers 39 which extend toward each other and under a pin carried by therod 3l. Thus when either finger 33 is swung upwardly it will pushagainst the pin 40 and cause the rod 3l to move upwardly against theaction of spring 31, thereby lifting the detent away from the head oi'the bolt.

The respective operating elements or shafts 33 are adapted to beactuated by arms or levers 4I extending upwardly therefrom through slotsin the bottom wall of the window opening. By swinging either of thesearms in one direction its shaft will be rotated so as to cause the nger39 to thrust upwardly against pin s and release the bolt head forlateral swinging movement. This modified lock will be provided with astop 32 corresponding with the one heretofore described whereby thelatch can be held against operation.

What is claimed is:

l, A latching mechanism for a closure comprising a case plate providedwith a face plate, a bolt carried thereby including a tail-piece and ahead pivotally connected thereto, spring means for urging the bolt tolatching position, said head being adapted to swing in response toopening movement of the closure and having sliding cooperation with saidcase plate and face plate during such swinging movement, a stop portionon said head engaging said face plate for limiting the movement of thebolt to latching position and slidingly engaging said face plate duringswinging movement of the head, means for urging said bolt toward theface plate for rectilinear sliding movement to yieldably restrainswinging movement of the head, and movable abutment means engaging saidstop portion for maintaining the tail-piece and the bolt in alignmentfor rectilinear movement only whereby the closure is maintained inlatched condition by preventing swinging movement of the head.

2 A latching mechanism for a closure comprising a case plate providedwith a face plate, a bolt carried thereby including a tail-piece and ahead pivotally connected thereto, spring means for urging the bolt tolatching position, said head being adapted to swing in response toopening movement of the closure and having sliding cooperation with saidcase plate and face plate during such swinging movement, a stop portionon said head engaging said face plate for limiting the movement oi thebolt to latching position and slidingly engaging said face plate duringswinging movement of the head, means for urging said bolt toward theface plate for rectilinear sliding movement to yieldably restrainswinging movement of the head, movable abutment means engaging said stopportion for maintaining the tailpiece and the bolt in alignment forrectilinear movement only whereby the closure is maintained in latchedcondition by preventing swinging movement of the head, and manualcontrol means for releasing said abutment means including means disposedon each side of the door and connections enabling actuation of onecontrol independent of the other control.

3. A latching mechanism for a closure comprising a case plate providedwith a face plate. a bolt carried thereby including a tail-piece and ahead pivotally connected thereto and having sliding cooperation withsaid case plate and face plate during swinging movement, said head beingadapted to swing in response to opening movement of the closure, springmeans for urging the bolt to latching position, means for urging saidbolt toward the case plate for rectilinear sliding movement to yieldablyrestrain swinging movement of the head, and movable abutment means formaintaining the tail-piece and bolt head in alignment for rectilinearmovement only whereby the closure is maintained in latching condition bypreventing swinging movement of the head 4. A latching mechanism for aclosure comprising a case plate provided with a face plate a boltcarried thereby including a tail-piece and a head pivotally connectedthereto, said head being adapted to swing in response to opening moviment of the closure, a curved surface on said hi ad adapted to slidahlycontact said case plate during swinging movement thereof a stop portionon .said head slidingly engaging said face plaie during swingingmovement and in cooperation with said curved surface, spring means forurging the boli to latching position. means for urging said boli towardthe case plate for rectilinear sliding fiiove ment to yieldably restrainswinging movement or the head, and movable abutment means for maintaining the tail-piece and bolt head in alignment for rectilinearmovement only whereby the cio sure is maintained in latched condition bypre venting swinging movement of the head 5. A latching mechanismincluding a casing having a face plate, a sliding and swinging bolt insaid casing, means adapted to urge said bolt to a position for slidingmovement, means carried by the bolt engaging the face plate to limitoutward sliding movement thereof and coactlng with the face plate duringswinging movement of the bolt, and releasable means engaging the lastnamed means to restrain swinging movement of the bult to unlatchingposition.

CLAUD H. SAXTON.

